Any Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) project conducted by Mn/DOT that impacts property owners requires the coordination of cadastral (land ownership) and highway right-of-way information. The timely and accurate identification sharing and coordination of cadastral information is the basis for well-managed highway projects. Mn/DOT has already taken a step towards improving coordination between Mn/DOT offices and other government agencies with the State Parcel Map Inventory (SPMI), a resource with information about the status and accuracy of cadastral information in 87 Minnesota counties. Government agencies have seen the potential in the SPMI to better optimize data development and exchange through the use of GIS technologies. The finding of this project suggest that the SPMI is a starting point for helping coordination, but more targeted efforts are called for. Considering the heterogeneity of local government, individual relationships between organizational staff are crucial to overcoming institutional and technical obstacles.
Cyclists confronted by disruptions to facilities (e.g., dedicated paths, designated lanes) experience disturbances that prompt them to select sub-optimal facilities to avoid disruptions. Cyclists who have ready access to such improved facilities often choose sub-optimal facilities. This project collected a variety of data to help gain a better understanding of commuter cyclist behavior using Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment to record cyclist movements and behaviors. Using GPS units for data collection provides significant data for analysis, however, a substantial and unexpected amount of effort went into determining the best operational use of the GPS units and verifying data collection protocols. Among important findings, results show that as perceived safety decreases, riders appear to be more cautious and move more slowly; however in situations of substantial perceived danger, riders go faster to spend as short a time in unsafe conditions. Cyclists choose these dangerous situations over alternatives because of lessened travel times. The research has been successful in establishing insightful relationships between commuter cyclist behavior and facilities. The methodological results are significant for future work.